COS Texas Grassroots Army

Lt. Governor Patrick Announces COS as a Priority!

Governor Abbott Announces Book on His Life, and the Convention of States

On April 4th, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the upcoming publication of his first book, entitled "Broken But Unbowed", from Threshold Editions.

The book details the Governor's life story, and his promotion of the Convention of States as the means to combat an overreaching federal government. The announcement comes just three months after the Governor's call for the Texas Legislature to join with other states in calling for a "Convention of States".

The Governor will also embark on a book tour to promote both the book and the Convention of States after the book's release on May 17th.

Abbott says "Fix the Cracks" the Supreme Court has Created

Governor Abbott came out in full support of a Convention of States to propose new amendments to the Constitution to "fixes the cracks" that the Supreme Court and Congress have created through years of rulings that have eroded and damaged the Constitution. His entire speech yesterday was moving and inspiring toward an actual solution to the problem we face in Washington DC.

Clearly Gov. Abbott has done his homework on the Convention of States Project. It is time to listen to the THOUSANDS of Texas Convention of States volunteers and Gov Abbott in adding Texas to the list of states calling for the Convention of States!

Where are we in Texas?

1) Governor Greg Abbott has publicly challenged the Texas Legislature to join with other states in calling for a Convention of States; watch here!

2) Building on this momentum, Texas COS is partnering with Governor Abbott, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), and other Liberty-Loving organizations, leading the charge in our nation, educating and promoting the Convention of States to state legislatures around the nation.

3) Texas leadership includes not only Gov. Abbott, but our military veteran legislators committed to continue honoring their lifetime oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

b) Governor Abbott’s Deputy General Counsel, Andrew Oldham, and Texas COS Co-Director Paul Hodson, delivered testimony to the committee, describing both the purpose of the Convention of States application, and the progress of the Convention of States Movement.

6) More than 25 Texas Grassroots Supporters Testified in Support of SJR 2 at the Senate State Affairs Committee hearing on February 16, 2017, with many more in attendance to witness this critical first step in the legislative process. A vote was help immediately following testimony, with SJR 2 passing with a vote of 6-2!

7) On February 28, 2017, the full Senate debated SJR 2, then voted 20-11 to send it on to the House for consideration.

8) SJR 2 was delivered to the House on March 1st, where it sat on Speaker Straus' desk until April 10, 2017. The House resolution HJR 39 was referred to the Select Committee on State & Federal Power & Responsibility on March 9, but we needed SJR 2 to be referred to committee to avoid the need to return to the Senate with HJR 39. The Grassroots Army responded by pounding the phones, asking their representative to urge Speaker Straus to refer SJR 2. Finally on April 10, 2017, SJR 2 was referred to the House Select Committee.

9) Our resolution HJR 39 was heard in the House committee on Thursday, April 13, 2017. Testimony was heard from our opposition, who were present in full force, but there was wave after wave of COS supporters giving testimony (over 70), far out-numbering the opposition. In addition, there were several hundred COS supporters filling the hearing room and overflow room. HJR 39 was left pending in the committee following the hearing.

10) SJR 2 was voted out of the House committee on Thursday, April 20, 2017 by a vote of 5-2. The good news was that we advanced one more step closer to a House floor vote, but an amendment was added by the Committee, which will need to be removed on the House floor. A Call to Action was immediately organized, to get the word out to the legislators supporting our resolution, to help explain what they need to so on the House floor to support Rep. Rick Miller, our resolution author.

11) On May 4, 2017, Rep. Rick Miller, House sponsor for SJR 2, filed an amendment to restore the resolution to its original state as passed by the Senate, and the full House immediately thereafter voted 94-51 for passage of SJR 2 (see the vote details here). This resulted in Texas becoming the 11th state to pass the Convention of States resolution.

The Convention of States Project has two websites. www.conventionofstates.com is the national site, provided to educate and inform our citizens about our project and about Article V of our Constitution. www.cosaction.com/texas is our Texas specific activism website and is a resource for our grassroots lobbying, communication, and education. Please bookmark both of these sites, and check back often for the latest information, events, and progress with the Convention of States Project.

For an overview of the Convention of States Project, please take the COS University Course "Introduction to Convention of States (COS100x)". You can find the registration page at cosuniversity.com.

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